


Covalent Bonds

by kisahawklin



Series: Covalent Bonds [1]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Author's Favorite, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-10-12
Updated: 2007-10-12
Packaged: 2017-10-06 22:39:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/58511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kisahawklin/pseuds/kisahawklin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Set shortly after 2.04, Runner. Owes a debt to <i><a href="http://khohen1.livejournal.com/715898.html">The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Grunt and His Scientist</a></i> by foxxcub & khohen1. Thanks a million to libitina and ninquelosse for insightful readthroughs and soleta for a kickass beta.</p></blockquote>





	Covalent Bonds

Radek jumps when he looks up and sees Ronon standing in the doorway to the labs. He will never admit that Ronon scares him. It is the fact that Ronon is in the lab at all, moving around soundlessly, that makes Radek twitch.

"Can I help you?" Radek asks, because if his father did nothing else, he taught Radek how to be polite in the face of fear, hunger, and any number of other uncomfortable conditions.

"Will you be my scientist?" Ronon asks, and Radek shakes his head; he must have misheard the question.

Excuse me?" Radek asks. He is certain that the very large man with lots of knives standing in the entryway to his lab will repeat himself and Radek will laugh at what was surely a mistake. Then he will go away and Radek can pretend this never happened.

"Sheppard has McKay. Lorne has Parrish. Cadman –"

"Oh, yes, I understand," Radek interrupts, "You mean your team scientist. That would be Rodney." He smiles tentatively until Ronon scowls. "And – and Teyla's," Radek stammers, suddenly realizing he has made a tactical error and taking a step back. "He is Teyla's, as well."

Ronon advances on him. "McKay is _Sheppard_'s scientist. Teyla is a diplomat."

"Of – of course," Radek stutters, and now more than half of his discomfort is from having Ronon so close, looming over him in an entirely threatening way.

"I…" Radek starts, not sure exactly what he should say. "Very well, I will be your scientist," Radek says, feeling somewhat dirty, and also like he's signed on for something he isn't really brave enough for. Ronon seems to be satisfied, though, and at least that's something.

**

Ronon hangs around the lab once in a while after that, and Radek gets the impression that he is trying to imitate Colonel Sheppard. The problem is, while Colonel Sheppard activates a wide and varied assortment of Ancient technology for them to play with and sets most of the scientists at ease, Ronon _lurks_ and makes Dr. Simpson drop her coffee, though whether that is from fear or... something else, Radek is not sure.

"Ronon, get out of here," Rodney growls, but Ronon smiles and ignores the ranting. Rodney makes pointed remarks for the rest of the morning, but Ronon simply hikes himself onto one of the counters and watches them work on power couplings and heat converters.

Radek's stomach growls several hours later, and he looks up to find Ronon still watching the scientists work. As Radek is considering him, Ronon meets his eyes, and smiles broadly.

"Lunch?" Ronon asks, and the entire lab turns to stare at him. He's looking directly at Radek, and Radek glances nervously at Rodney, who has suddenly grasped the fact that Radek has the power to make the Yeti leave his lab.

"Yeah, go to lunch, get him out of here," Rodney says, waving his hand in vague amusement.

**

Radek follows Ronon through the lunch line, picking random pieces of food as he considers how best to ask Ronon not to return to the lab. It is better to head this off at the pass than to have Rodney complaining and eventually ordering Radek to handle it.

"I do not think that your time is best spent in the lab," Radek says, doing his best to be kind about kicking Ronon out. "Also, it makes Rodney nervous, which makes him even more unbearable than usual."

Ronon snorts, setting down his tray of food. "You don't want me there?" he asks, and Radek feels a pang of regret.

"No, no," Radek says, briefly patting Ronon's hand to reassure him. "I do not mind your presence, but making Rodney nervous is not so good – and some of the other scientists – and perhaps it would be best…"

Radek sees Ronon's face harden and pulls his hand back, suddenly wary. Ronon says nothing more, leaving his food where it is and stalking out of the mess.

Rodney joins Radek at the table a few moments later and glances at the abandoned tray. They are discussing power conversion within moments, and Rodney absentmindedly pulls the tray over to him, picking through Ronon's food and leaving a strange sculpture of oranges, rib bones, and broccoli.

Colonel Sheppard sits down just as they were planning to head back to the lab, and Radek does his best not to fidget. "What did you do to Ronon, McKay?" Sheppard asks.

Radek tries to hide behind his water bottle.

"What?!" Rodney snaps, and Radek squints in preparation for Rodney's wrath. "He skulks around my labs, scaring half of my scientists to death and causing the rest to have spontaneous orgasms –" Sheppard spits his coffee out at this, and Radek gets a sleeveful – "and _I_ did something wrong? We didn't get a thing done today until I got Radek to take him to lunch."

"Well, you did something. He asked me how to divorce his scientist."

Radek chokes on his water, and Colonel Sheppard gives him a friendly thump on the back.

"_What?_" Rodney asks, slightly hysterical. "We're not married!"

"Work it out," Sheppard says, his voice slightly menacing. "He's on our team, whether you like it or not."

"I like it!" Rodney says hurriedly, and Radek swallows a laugh at Rodney's blatant desire for the colonel's approval. "He can kill things with his bare hands, what's not to like?"

The colonel seems taken aback and frowns. "You haven't antagonized him?"

"No more than anyone else," Rodney answers, and Radek smiles ruefully. He wonders if he can slip away unnoticed while the colonel tries to gauge exactly how damning that is. "Radek, you should talk to him for me," Rodney says, just as Radek stands. "He likes you."

Colonel Sheppard looks up sharply, and Radek tries not to squirm. "I do not think that would be wise," Radek says, and he knows the colonel has heard something telling in his voice.

"I do," Sheppard says, his voice hard. "He likes you, Radek, I think you should talk to him." The colonel tilts his head and raises one corner of his mouth, which tells Radek clearly, _that's an order_.

Radek sighs. "Of course, I will speak to him." Rodney breathes a sigh of relief and Radek swears at him in Czech.

**

In the end, Radek stays in the mess because Ronon missed lunch, and he reasons that someone of Ronon's size must need to eat small children if they skip a meal. Ronon returns half an hour later, and Radek pauses the game of chess he's playing on his laptop.

Ronon fills up a tray and turns to look directly at Radek. Radek waves him over, hoping Ronon is still willing to talk to him. Ronon looks around the nearly empty mess and saunters over to where Radek has figured out how to beat his computer in four moves. He really needs to upgrade the program to provide more of a challenge.

Ronon sits down and shovels his food in silently. Radek watches in morbid fascination for a few minutes before offering his apology. "I did not mean to upset you earlier," he says, and when Ronon's eyes flick up to meet his own, he offers a small smile.

Ronon stops eating to stare Radek down. "I thought you did not want me."

"Want you?" Radek asks carefully. "What do you mean?" He drops his eyes to Ronon's plate.

"Sheppard goes to the labs all the time," Ronon says, and Radek wonders what sort of dynamic he thinks Sheppard and McKay have.

"We need Colonel Sheppard's help to activate some of the Ancient devices," Radek explains.

"He goes to visit McKay." Ronon's expression is patient, as if he is explaining this to a small child.

"No one visits McKay."

Ronon shakes his head and smiles, glancing away.

Radek decides to tell the truth. "You make people uncomfortable," he says, trying his best to break it gently. Ronon's eyes narrow and Radek rushes to reassure him. "Oh no, not me! Other people. Miko. Houston. Simpson."

Ronon's expression lightens and Radek blows out a breath. "Yes. If it were just me in the lab…"

"You work alone at night," Ronon says, and Radek blinks uncomprehendingly.

"Yes," Radek says finally. "Sometimes it is easier to work without interruptions."

"I could watch you," Ronon says, and Radek finds that this would not bother him. It surprises him, a little. He's never enjoyed being the center of attention, or having people watch him. He likes doing good work and being satisfied with his results.

"What is it you find so fascinating?" Radek asks. "It must be boring to watch me scribble equations and tinker with equipment."

"Your hands like to work," Ronon says matter-of-factly. Radek smiles. His hands do like to work.

Radek glances at the time display on his laptop. He's wasted three hours on this already; he'll be working late to run all the data from the simulations they've been working on without him this afternoon. "I have to get back to the lab," Radek says, surprised to be sad at having to leave Ronon's company.

"See you tonight," Ronon says, and Radek smiles and looks in Ronon's eyes briefly – he is not going to win any staring contests – before going to the lab.

**

Radek has to run one of the simulations again, a typo in one of the equations making the data completely useless. He jots down some notes on the other projects he should be spending more time on and settles in at Rodney's desk (the only one with a comfortable chair) to watch the numbers crunch.

The simulation finishes running and Radek sits down with the data, organizing and sorting in the background as thoughts about friendship, solidarity, nationalism, and family occupy the front of his mind. He sets the stylus down several hours after sunset. The rest of the science team left hours ago, and Ronon is sitting on the same counter he occupied earlier in the day, watching Radek intently.

"Oh," Radek says, and twitches. "You scared me."

"Sorry."

Radek smiles at Ronon's economy of words. It's as if they are a valuable currency, and everyone gets the bare minimum they need to facilitate understanding. Radek laughs to think of Rodney in this context, the rich person who fritters away his wealth on toys that have no meaning later.

He must be easily distracted today because by the time he realizes that Ronon has moved, Ronon is leaning over him.

"You must teach me how you move so silently," Radek says, surprised by the breathless tone of his own voice.

"You must teach me how to concentrate hard enough to block out the world," Ronon counters, and Radek concedes defeat, dropping his head and rubbing a hand over his cheek. He shuts his eyes and can feel them burn, so he takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes heartily, gleefully ignoring the advice of every ophthalmologist he's ever known.

When he opens his eyes again, Ronon's face is right in front of his, so close he can see every detail without his glasses. He doesn't jump this time, nor does he move, and he can't quite grasp the fact that Ronon has crept into his personal space. He flicks his eyes up to Ronon's and immediately casts them down again, wondering if Ronon can teach him how to hold someone's gaze without laying himself bare.

Ronon takes his chin in hand and forces him to look up. Radek meets Ronon's eyes and waits, blinking when he gets too uncomfortable. He can feel his heartbeat gathering speed inelegantly, and he is sure he will die of a heart attack. Ronon rubs a thumb over the pulse point in Radek's neck, and Radek can feel the thrum of the blood in his veins right before he does something which is so natural and so stupid at the same time the paradox nearly blinds him.

He leans forward, closes his eyes and presses their mouths together. It is a chaste kiss, almost, dry and warm and comforting. Not what Radek was expecting, but pleasing enough to make him grin. He opens his eyes and Ronon is there, grinning back at him.

"You're tired," Ronon says. "I think you should go to sleep."

Radek laughs softly and nods. "Yes." He puts his glasses back on and stands up, stretching his arms upwards and popping his back. Ronon puts his hand on Radek's shoulder and pushes him forward, propelling him out of the lab, and Radek trudges sleepily along, carefully guided by his soldier.

**Author's Note:**

> Set shortly after 2.04, Runner. Owes a debt to _[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Grunt and His Scientist](http://khohen1.livejournal.com/715898.html)_ by foxxcub &amp; khohen1. Thanks a million to libitina and ninquelosse for insightful readthroughs and soleta for a kickass beta.


End file.
